If only all of fashion week could be as funny — and fun — as Tanya Taylor‘s new video series. On the eve of New York Fashion Week’s kickoff, the Canadian designer debuted a series of videos on Instagram, YouTube and her website that show off her new fall ’20 collection while also providing a lot of sincere LOLs.
In a series dubbed #FASHUNWEEK, Taylor tapped five comedic actresses — Jane Krakowski, Sasheer Zamata, Gillian Jacobs, Zosia Mamet and Michelle Buteau — to create the videos, which poke fun at some of the clichés of fashion week in the Instagram age.
In one video, former ‘SNL’ castmate Zamata is desperately trying to get the attention of fellow New Yorkers, piling on coats and miniature bags and sunglasses in a more-is-more effort to get noticed, much in the way that street style stars prowl around outside of NYFW shows. In another, Jacobs tries to lure social media followers with the promise of backstage fashion show VIP access with the likes of Billie Eilish, only to have her fake set exposed when her dog steps on the curtain that hid her living room from viewers.
The videos manage to satirize fashion week while also showing off Taylor’s new designs, highlights of which include a cozy green snap-button coat on Mamet, an embroidered army-green trench on Krakowski and a lime-green dress on Jacobs (“Billie, look! I’m wearing your favorite color!” she shouts to her imaginary co-star). Taylor went to designers Nina Zarkua of Zarqua Collection and Daniella Shevel to source footwear to show with the collection, including a pair of green ankle booties with an undone buckle motif and square-toed, patent-leather boots with pearl and chain ankle jewels.
The videos are sure to have a following with both an industry and commercial audience, which raises the recurring question of the need for a fashion week and who should be its intended audience. It’s a question that seems to collectively be asked each season, as social media has allowed more access to consumers.
This isn’t the first time that the designer has experimented with different NYFW formats. For spring ’19, Taylor invited a small group of women from different industries to her home for a luncheon and then photographed them for her look book (muses included Lizzo, Giovanna Engelbert and Roopal Patel).
